After the first week of fighting, Ukraine claimed to control almost 400 square miles of Russian territory - an area roughly the size of Los Angeles. But American officials remain skeptical about Ukraine's long-term intention to hold such positions.
Ukrainian forces have not been digging the kind of extensive trenches necessary to protect soldiers and equipment from enemy fire, indicating the complexities of preserving gained territory amid potential Russian counterattacks.
What the war has shown us so far is that the way to slow a military down is through defense in depth. If they are not defending territory with a mixture of trenches and mines, it is going to be virtually impossible to hold territory.
U.S. officials and analysts caution that the more territory Ukraine captures, the greater the challenge it will be for the some 10,000 Ukrainian troops there to defend it.
Collection
[
|
...
]